


lampposts and memories

by seisop



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Belgium (Country), F/F, Reunions, Running into each other, josie's heart goes crazy, no like she should probably see a doctor, set after 3x01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:21:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28933941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seisop/pseuds/seisop
Summary: On an empty street in Belgium, Josie runs into Penelope after not seeing her for a year.
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 18
Kudos: 62





	lampposts and memories

**Author's Note:**

> WOOOO JOSIE IS GOING TO EUROPE!!!! AND PENELOPE IS IN EUROPE!!! LET'S COLLECT OUR ENDGAME BITCHES
> 
> shoutout to day6's moonrise album for getting me in the mood to write this woo that album is so emotional wth
> 
> also i should mention that i changed my ao3 @, i used to be @fieldofposies :)

The streets of Belgium are always nicer at night. Josie knows this because whenever she gets the chance to visit her mother, she goes on strolls through them almost daily. It’s the dim store fronts and the empty roads (with the exception of a few cars that usually drive by quickly anyway) that allow her to get deep inside her thoughts, imagining and thinking of anything and everything.

On this particular night, Josie is going on the same route she usually does, passing by the same stores and restaurants she recognizes. The only thoughts filling her head are about what she thinks is going on back at home at the Salvatore Boarding School. There are only about two more blocks left until she plans on turning around and heading back. 

There’s a flickering street lamp beside some closed cafe. It’s nothing new, because she sees it every night. What sticks out to her is the figure leaning on it, tapping its foot and looking around the street and sidewalk.

It’s not rare to see other pedestrians at this time of the night. Uncommon, yes, but the sky outside is clear and it’s not as cold as it had been the week before, so it would make sense that someone like-minded would decide to go out for some quiet time and light exercise.

It’s just that the figure is… _familiar_.

Josie hasn’t forgotten about her first love. She remembers how she cried until the early hours of the morning when Penelope broke up with her, and how she slept in her dorm and had worn the other’s left-behind clothes when Penelope had left, desperate to keep some part of her there. Filled with hope that had eventually diminished, she remembers realizing that she would never see Penelope again.

But it seems like the hope is back, because now she’s still, trying to examine the figure from where she’s standing.

The person’s short hair is styled into a bob and is wearing a leather jacket. They seem like they’re waiting for someone, with the turn of their head to different directions on the street and sidewalk. With each turn, and with each flicker of the streetlight, illuminating the side of their face, Josie feels her heart beat faster. Josie knows what Penelope’s side profile looks like; she has it memorized from when she would look over at her during their nights stargazing back in Mystic Falls. It _has_ to be her. In hopes that her mind isn’t playing tricks on her, she tries to gather the courage to approach her. Then, the girl turns her head to face Josie.

It’s her. _It’s really her._

All of a sudden, Josie can feel her heart racing.

“Do you need something?” the figure - Penelope - asks.

Josie doesn’t say anything at first, still in awe that the girl she never thought she’d see again is standing in front of her, speaking to her.

“N-no- I just- do you know anyone named Penelope Park?”

And that’s when Penelope goes rigid.

“Oh my God. Josie?”

She begins walking towards her from the street lamp, slow and hesitant, as if she too can’t believe that they’re together again.

“Yeah. It’s me. Are you…?”

Josie definitely didn’t need to ask, but the part of her brain that tries to be sensible whenever she gets her hopes up too much seems to be in control.

She doesn’t receive an answer to the question. Instead, Penelope stops, about 10 feet from her. She nods, and Josie’s heart goes crazy.

“Holy shit,” is all she’s able to say.

“Why are you here? Did something happen back at Salvatore?”

Josie can’t tell if she’s genuinely worried about her or just confused but either way, she feels unbelievably happy.

“No, I was visiting Caroline.”

“Oh.”

An awkward tension fills the air after that. It feels like a staring contest, with neither of them wanting to look away. The light behind Penelope continues flickering, but it’s barely noticeable now, stored in her mind as something else to think about the next time she goes on a walk.

It’s odd when it’s so quiet between them. Usually Penelope at least says some infuriating one-liner, which always leads to them bantering. But that was natural. It was something Josie learned to expect when she saw her nearly every day. Though she convinced herself that she hated it and that she hated Penelope, both of them knew that it was all a facade, just another way Josie tried to protect herself from heartbreak.

(It didn’t work, and the heartbreak she felt when Penelope ended up leaving her behind like people always did was unreal.)

“I missed you.”

Penelope says nothing. At this, Josie feels a tug at her heart, one familiar to when she had read Penelope’s letter for the first time.

“Are you at least going to say something?” Josie asks, trying to get her to say it back, hoping that she won’t leave her hanging like this. “...Please say something.”

Then Penelope looks away, back to the street like she did when she was leaning on the lamppost. Josie pretends that it doesn’t hurt.

Suddenly, she looks back up.

“Do you usually go for walks like this?”

Josie crinkles her eyebrows slightly.

“No, why?”

“I don’t know, I just thought I’d see you more. My school’s in the area.”

“Oh. Do you- do you wanna show me around then?”

It’s an obvious attempt at getting to spend more time with the other girl, and she knows that Penelope can tell, but she doesn’t want to just leave, especially after an entire year of missing her presence.

“I’m busy. Or, going to be.”

It’s a lie just as obvious as Josie asking to hang out.

“Oh.”

Josie feels unnerved at how different Penelope is. Gone is the girl who would mercilessly flirt with her every chance she got despite them being broken up. Josie tries to shake away the thought that it might be because of her, that Penelope is acting like this because she doesn’t want to see her or be with her anymore. It’s not exactly implausible, but she doesn’t want to believe it. The sensible, defensive part of her mind, however, feels different. Her eyes dart over to the flickering streetlight, and she nearly chuckles at how it reminds her of herself.

Then, a car drives over. It’s hard to miss when the rest of the street is empty. On the contrary, the way Penelope tenses up is easy to miss, but of course Josie notices it.

The window of the driver’s seat rolls down, and a girl roughly her age but unrecognizable sticks her head out.

“Babe! Sorry I was late, I kind of got lost,” the girl yells out. “Who’s that?”

... _Oh_.

Josie looks at Penelope, searching her face for some - any - sort of explanation. There’s no way. Right? She doesn’t know what she was expecting but Penelope dating someone right after leaving her when she needed her most was not it. But memories of the scenarios she’d imagined when Penelope had just left her flash back. She remembers a multitude of them, and yes, Penelope getting a girlfriend and breaking her heart the third time was one of them, but it was also the one she didn’t want coming true.

But Penelope isn’t hers anymore, and this is just a painful reminder of that. She doesn’t know why she can’t move on after so long, and she just knows she’ll have even more trouble moving on after this.

“It’s fine, Kaya, just ran into an old friend.”

Well, that stings. Josie can almost physically feel the pieces of her heart falling apart. For the third time.

“Sorry, Jojo, I need to get going. Hope you make it home safe.”

Penelope doesn’t spare her a single glance when she walks to the car. When Josie watches her get in the car, she sees a sweet smile on her face. It’s the same smile Penelope would reserve for them and their moments alone together. She remembers her smiling like that during their study dates, or when they’d sneak out of the school to drive into the city (mainly under Penelope’s influence, which doesn’t help the heartache). But Penelope isn’t smiling for her anymore. 

The only sounds she hears are the engine roars of the car zooming away and the flickering of the lamppost that had been flickering all night. When the car is out of sight, Josie’s tear-soaked eyes return to the lamppost.

She walks away.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry :(
> 
> nearly named this "lampposts and heartbreak" but i didn't wanna spoil it lmao


End file.
